In an important step to support safer, faster and more joined-up care for some of the Capital’s most vulnerable residents Mental Health Act (MHA) patient information is now available in the London Care Record (16 December 2025).
The London Care Record is a single and secure view of a person’s health and care information used by over 100,000 health and care staff each month to help ensure they have information they need at the point of care. Only staff involved in a person’s care are allowed to access the information.
The London Care Record includes details about any conditions which a person has, their test results, medicines, allergies, plans for their care and other useful information such as hospital discharge summaries.
Information about whether a patient is, or has recently been, detained and treated under the MHA is now also available in the London Care Record from organisations using the eMHA by Thalamos system.
This means frontline staff using the London Care Record can see the summary of patients’ MHA legal status from participating organisations when relevant, guiding them to seek more information from the organisation about the patient’s care and treatment.
This will help to ensure they have more of the information they need at the point of care to support their decision making and support safer, faster and more joined-up care for people detained under the MHA.
Dr Peter MacRae, Consultant Psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Being able to see patients’ MHA Legal Status in the London Care Record will help health professionals find the up-to-date information they need to provide appropriate care, improving communication and enabling more efficient progress of MHA processes when appropriate. This will benefit patients because it supports more joined up, safer and faster care, while also saving frontline staff valuable time.”
Nicola Dreher, London Care Record Associate Director, said:
“It is great news that Mental Health Act patient information is now available in the London Care Record. Thank you to our technical partners Oracle Health and Thalamos, as well as everyone else involved in helping to make this important development happen. The London Care Record is used by over 100,000 frontline staff each month. Now with MHA patient status information included, it is an even richer tool for these staff and will support more joined-up care for even more Londoners.”
Arden Tomison, CEO of Thalamos, said:
“It’s very common for someone to be asked for their Mental Health Act history again and again as they move between services. Professionals can now see that information in the London Care Record and focus on a more person-centred conversation. We’ve always seen our role as joining up the different parts of the system around the care of a person. Integrating with a shared care record strengthens that. It connects mental health services with acute hospitals, GPs and social care in a way that wasn’t possible before.”
You can find out more about the London Care Record here.
The eMHA by Thalamos system has been introduced at five Mental Health Trusts in London and their partner organisations over the last year. It replaces the mainly paper based MHA processes and enables health and care staff to easily access patient information, securely complete MHA statutory forms as well as digitally share them with all relevant colleagues. This supports safer, faster and more joined-up mental healthcare. You can find out more about the OneLondon eMHA by Thalamos programme here.
This short guide for health and care staff using the London Care Record sets out more detailed information about the MHA status information that is available, what it means and how to find this in the London Care Record.